Bracketology 2024: Purdue and Houston lead new projected field of 68 into the New Year

East Region (Boston)

1.) Kansas vs. 16.) Norfolk State/Denver

8.) Alabama vs. 9.) Northwestern

5. ) Colorado State vs. 12.) Grand Canyon

4.) Creighton vs. 13.) UC-Irvine

6.) Texas A&M vs. 11.) Nebraska

3.) North Carolina vs. 14.) High Point

7.)Virginia vs. 10.) South Carolina

2.) Marquette vs. 15.) Marist

Let’s head to the East region that will be played in Boston and look at the No. 1 seed in the region, the Kansas Jayhawks. The 12-1 Jayhawks are certainly worthy of the top seed with quad 1 wins over Tennessee, Connecticut and Kentucky, the only blemish on their record, a 73-59 loss to Marquette in Maui. With a metric average of just over ten, like Houston, the thing keeping them from being even higher on the seed list is the rest of their schedule. four of their 11 Division I wins are quad 4 wins with the best coming against North Carolina Central who ranks 259th in the NET.

If seeds hold to Boston then Kansas will have the chance to avenge the loss to Marquette, this time with a trip to the Final Four on the line. The other top-4 seeds in the region are the No.3 North Carolina Tar Heels and an offensively lethal Creighton Bluejays as the No. 4 seed. The middle of the bracket is also littered with dangerous teams like Virginia, Alabama, Texas A&M, and Colorado State, all of whom can be second-weekend teams.

The team to watch in this region has to be the No. 5 seed, the Colorado State Rams. The Rams are 16th in the NET and are 10-1 in Division I games with wins over Creighton, Colorado, and Washington. Isaiah Stevens may be the best point guard in the country, the 6-0 senior is averaging 17 points per game and dishing out 7.3 assists per game while shooting 56% from the field, 46% from beyond the arc, and 81% from the charity stripe. Right now Colorado State is the best team in a deep and perhaps underrated Mountain West Conference.